Aberdeenshire education chiefs could deploy their own food vans to north-east schoolyards in a bid to stop children chomping chips on their lunch breaks.
The council is considering the move as part of wide-ranging plans to modernise its catering service.
And whereas food vans are most commonly associated with greasy fare like burgers and hot dogs, these would be dishing out nutritious snacks in a fresh attempt to get kids eating healthily.
The proposal is now being considered as a “potential new income stream” for the cash-strapped council.
How would Aberdeenshire school food vans work?
The vans would be stationed in playgrounds across the north-east.
Local authority top brass say this would come with an “upfront cost” that could be “recuperated over the time the vans are in use”.
Officials explain how “food trends” are “moving away from the sit-down meal to a
much more ‘street food’ model and a grab and go service”.
A report states: “This is a growth market that school catering should maximise on.”
Papers outline several benefits, as this would create various “service points” where hungry pupils can get a bite to eat.
This would “alleviate the queuing within the school buildings”.
Meanwhile, officials add: “This would compete with the unhealthy food vans that have been granted licences very close to school grounds, that market their food directly at the pupils.”
Aberdeenshire school food vans could ‘stop pupils buying burgers’
Catering services manager Ian Paterson explained the plan at a recent meeting.
East Garioch councillor Jim Gifford was eager for the authority to take the idea forward.
He said: “There’s an interesting change there to the way everybody, including ourselves, look at street food and food ‘on the go’.
“We could encourage youngsters to take what we produce from the food van, rather than going down the street to the burger van producing stuff that isn’t so healthy for them.”
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And what about the school canteens?
While school canteens might see a decline in popularity if food vans are rolled out at Aberdeenshire schools, there is no plan to do away with them.
In fact, dining staff could soon be serving up grub to more than just pupils.
Officials believe there is “an opportunity” for these canteens to dish up culinary delights to be served at care homes or distributed as “meals on wheels”
Meanwhile, under the catering makeover, vending machines could be “marketed more” to “increase sales”.
‘Difficult to find healthy fare for vending machines’
The report adds: “Vending machines have been used within secondaries for several years with varying success.
“This is an area that school catering can market and promote and increase sales.”
But they add that, under nutrition guidelines, it “has been increasingly difficult to provide products that comply to fill a food vending machine”.
The focus will therefore be on vending machines selling drinks rather than food.
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